There comes a time when a business reaches a plateau, and seriously considers getting help on the marketing front. It’s not always easy to know whether it’s the right time to get support, let alone how to choose the right strategic marketing firm to help you:
- Reach a new market
- Refine your product offering
- Boost sales
- Rethink your branding
- Confirm that your current marketing investments are paying off
Can a consultant realistically help you do these things? Here are some things to consider.
Invest in a strategic marketing firm
Are you sure that your message grabs the attention of the right market? Or that your prices are competitive and allow you to earn a steady profit? Or that your website is structured to get the best SEO results?
There are a lot of service providers that can help you refresh your logo, redesign your website or help you design a new in-store display. But before you spend time and money on new promotional tools, it’s critical that you are taking the right actions to grow your business toward its ideal vision. This is where strategic marketing firm comes in.
By investing in strategic marketing, you will get a broader and deeper look into research, strategy, execution and analysis to grow your business toward its ideal vision.
This should encompass the following:
Give you a fresh perspective on your company – Before making any recommendations, research or plans, your strategic marketing experts should take the time to understand your organization and goals. They should also get a firm grasp of your marketing activities. Why? Because it’s important that they not assume that what worked for another client will automatically work for you – your company is one of a kind. A good practitioner will consider all possibilities and then apply skills, experience and insights to outline what will work for your organization.
Arm you with research and data – To make good decisions, you need good information. Here at Tenato, our first step in working with our clients is to conduct market research on your company, your industry and your competitive landscape. As part of this critical initial step, we examine broader industry trends and analyze your key competitors using over 40 key parameters.
Focus on strategy – Once the research phase is complete, the goal is to develop a comprehensive business or marketing plan, complete with budgets, workplans, schedules so all team members can stay on-task and focussed on results. A strategic plan does not need to be complex. In fact, some of the most elegant strategies are simple and apply common-sense principles to get results.
Help you refine your vision and goals – We believe in the power of having a clear vision – knowing what the purpose of your business is and what sets you apart in the market. Confirming your vision and goals will help anchor you and give you focus as you develop a new, exciting marketing plan for your organization.
Put the best marketing experts on your team – Once a strategy has been developed, the next step is to execute it. This often means that you’ll need the help of a team with skill sets such as web design, copy writing, graphic design, SEO analysis, sales training and recruiting, among others. As well, you may need advice on adopting software platforms, apps, creating social media accounts or other digital tools.
Map out a solid plan to achieve results – The right strategic marketing plan should outline concrete steps your company can take to achieve its goals. Using metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs), your marketing plan, which includes an annual budget and monthly reporting structure can show you how your business has grown and help keep you on track from one quarter to the next.
Our to-do lists often outstrip our ability to execute, let alone focus. By bringing a strategic marketing consultant on board, you will be able to free up time to focus on other parts of your organization and ensure that you get the best return for your marketing investment.
